Remote control for radio receivers



June 23, 1936. H. W. WEST REMOTE CONTROL FOR RADIO REORIVERS Filed Feb. 27, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheec l June 23, 1936. H. W. WEST y 2,044,927v

REMOTE CONTROL FOR RADIO RECEIVERS l FiledFeb. 27, 1955 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Q f" @Q' June 23, 1936.

H. W. WEST REMOTE CONTROL FOR RADIO RECEIVERS v 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 27, 1933 June 23, 1936. H. w. WEST 2,044,927

' REMOTE CONTRQL FOR RAIO RECEIVERS Filed Feb. 27, 1.935 4 SheetS-Sheell 4 Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

The invention relates to the remote control of radio receiving apparatus and forms in part a continuation of my application for patent Ser. No. 340,127, led February 15, 1929. It is the object of the invention,

First, to obtain a construction which is applicable to any construction of radio receiving apparatus without changes in the latter;

Second, to eiect the control from a remote point without the necessity of actuating any mechanism other than the closing or opening of electric circuits and with a minimum loss of range;

Third, to obtain a unit which may be easily attached to any radio receiver and which is restricted to dimensions so as not to disgure the instrument to which it is attached;

Fourth, to avoid the introduction of anything which will interfere with the satisfactory per- 2 formance of the instrument or the quality of the tone produced;

Fifth, to permit of the selection of a plurality of stations operating under any wave length or frequency Within the range of the instrument;

Sixth, to permit of pre-tuning for the selected stations and to thereafter instantaneously change from one to another through the remote control;

Seventh, to automatically display a visual signal corresponding to the usual designation of the station selected and which may be located either at the instrument, the loud speaker or at any other desired point. With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a radio receiver provided with my attachment, the loud speaker and the remote control;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a portion of the radio receiver and the attachment thereto;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the attachment;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on line 6--6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating the electrical connections between the various parts of the apparatus and Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the loud speaker and signal device.

My attachment is applicable to any type of radio receiver whether operated by batteries or power current, but I have specifically illustrated (Cl. Z-40) the same in connection with a set of the latter type. With such a construction the current for operating the control devices may be derived from the same source as that used in the instrument. Briefly described, my apparatus comprises a unit l attachable to the radio receiver 2, a control panel 3 located at the remote point and connected with the unit l through a multiple circuit cable 4, a signal unit 5 which may be associated with the loud speaker 6 and is connected with the unit I through a multiple circuit cable 1. As diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7, my attachment comprises a series of gangs of variable condensers A, A', A2, B, B', B2, C, C', C2, D, D', D2, E, E', E2 individually of relatively small capacity but cumulatvely covering the range of the instrument. These variable condensers are mounted in xed relation in close but non-interfering proximity. Each is capable of independent mechanical adjustment for initial tuning and the corresponding members of each multiple condenser are adapted for electrical connection with each other through the operation of multiple circuit closers F, F', F2, G, G', G2, H, H', H2, I, I', I2, J, J', J2. The remote control comprises a group of buttons K, K', K2 etc., for operating circuit closers connected by electrical circuits passing through a common conductor cable to relays L, L', L2, L3, L4 which in turn actuate the multiple circuit closers F, G, etc. for coupling the multiple condensers A, B, etc. These control circuits are also operatively connected withthe visual signals M, M', M2, etc. which as before stated are located either at the instrument or at any other point desired.

In the diagram, Fig. '7, I have enclosed the parts forming the remote control unit 3 by the broken line rectangle 3-3-3-3. The parts forming a portion of the radio receiver are enclosed by the broken lines 2 2--2-2--2-2. The parts forming the attachment and located at the instrument are enclosed in the broken line rectangle I-I-I-l and the parts in the signal apparatus are enclosed by the broken lines 5-5-5-5-5-5.

The parts forming the unit l are specifically illustrated in Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive and are of the following construction: N is a panel upon which the multiple variable condensers A, B, C, etc. are mounted and the movable plates of each of these condensers are attached to a shaft O journaled in bearings O' on the panel and rotatively adjustable by a knob O2. The variable condensers are of any suitable construction and are of sufcient capacity to cover the range of individual adjustment. As this is only a fraction of the total capacity of that required for the range of the instrument, the parts are comparatively small and may be compactly arranged in relation to each other upon the panel N. The circuit closers F, G, H, etc. are preferably located on the bottom of the panel N which is preferably formed of insulating material and as shown each circuit closer comprises a rock shaft P having a series of rock arms P' thereon with insulator knobs P2 at their outer ends for actuating spring contact members to press the same against stationary contact members. It is important to reduce non-variable capacity to the minimum in the electrical connections between the variable condensers. Therefore, preferably form these connections of conductor strips Q which are individually connected to the several insulated plates of the multiple variable condenser by screws or other electrical connections R passing through the panel N. An end portion Q' of each of these strips extends to overlap an opposite end portion Q2 of the strip for the adjacent variable condenser and constitutes the spring contact which is actuated by the knob P2 of the rock arm P'. Thus the entire electrical connection between corresponding plates oi' successive variable condensers is formed by these strips Q and the overlapping is so slight as to have very little eifect in altering the electrical capacity.

Each of the rock shafts P is operated by an electro-magnetic relay L which as shown in Fig. 6 consists of an electro-magnet S and an arman ture S' mounted on the rock shaft P. The amount of movement of this armature may be limited by a screw threaded rod S2 and an adjustable nut S3 so as to be just sufficient to move the spring contacts Q' into or out of electrical connection witlgthe stationary contacts Q2. whenever the relay S is energized all of the circuit closers for the corresponding multiple variable condenser will be simultaneously actuated by the rocking of the shaft P and associated parts.

In order that the variable condensers A, B, C, etc. may be used cumulatively, it is necessary that the connection into circuit of any one will automatically effect the connection of all others which are lower down in the series. In other words, for the maximum capacity all of the series must be electrically connected, while for the minimum capacity only the rst of the series will be connected in. If desired, the entire capacity may be furnished by variable condensers of the attachment but inasmuch as every radio receiving set is provided with a variable condenser, this may be used as the iirst ofthe series and the attachment condensers used for supplementing the same to obtain full capacity.

As indicated in Fig. 7, T, T', T2 are the varia-'- ble condensers in the radio receiving set, the stationary plates of which are connected by conductors U, U', U2 with the circuit closers F, F', F2. Thus if the condensers T, T', T2 are tuned for one station, the closure of the circuit closers F, F', F2 will connect with the variable condensers A, A', A2 which latter supplemented by the pretuned capacity of the former may be tuned for another station. In the same manner the succeeding variable condensers B, C', D and E may be tuned for diierent stations each succeeding one being electrically connected to all preceding ones.

As before described, the circuit closers F, G, H, etc. are controlled by the remote control buttons K, K', K2, etc. If, however, these buttons were merely to operate their individual relays L, L', etc. it would be necessary to press all of the buttons at the lower end of the series t complete connection to the Variable condensers at an upper point in the series. Therefore, to avoid such complication I have designed a construction in which the manipulation of an individual button will effect all of the necessary electrical Connections or disconnections to prop erly tune for a particular station.

To accomplish this purpose each button K, K', etc. when in normal position effects the closing of an electrical circuit which is broken upon the pressing of the button and (with the exception of K) a second electric circuit is closed when the button is so pressed. Thus the button K when pressed opens a circuit closer V. The button K' when pressed opens the circuit closer V' and closes the circuit closer W. In the same manner the button K2 controls circuit closers V2, W2, the button K3 the circuit closers V3, W3, etc. The electrical current for operating the relays may be furnished from any suitable source but as indicated, Fig. 7, X is a transformer which may be connected to a source of alternating current through the plug X', and X2 is a rectifying tube for converting the alternating to a direct current. 2i is a conductor which supplies current from one side of X2 to one side of all of the relays. S is a conductor through which direct current received from the other side of the tube X2 is conveyed through the cable 4 to the remote control panel 3 (Fig. l). This conductor is connected to one of the contacts of the circuit closer V controlled by the button K and also to one of the contacts of each of the circuit closers W', W2, etc. controlled by the buttons K', K2, etc. The relays L, L', L2, L3 and L4 are connected to individual conductors 9, lli, Il, I2 and l 3 passing through the cable l leading to the remote control panel 3. The conductor 9 is connected to the movable contact which' is associated with the circuit closers V', W' controlled by the button K' and in like manner the conductors lll, il, l2 and i3 are respectively connected to the movable contact member associated with the circuit closers V2, W2, V3, W3, etc. Thus the pressing of the button K' will through the circuit closer W' close the circuit of the relay L to actuate the circuit closers F, F', F2 and in the same manner the pressing of the button K2 will close circuit through the relay L for actuating the circuit closers G, G', G2 and so on through the series. However, as thus far described, the release of the button would instantaneously break the circuit thus closed and it is therefore necessary to provide means for maintaining the circuit after closure and after the button is released, which is accomplished as follows:

F3, G3, H3, etc. are circuit closers which are actuated by their respective relays L, L', etc. The circuit closer F3 is connected by a conductor l'a with the circuit closer V and which thus forms a shunt around the circuit closer W so that after the relay L has been energized by the pressing of the button K and the closing of the circuit closer W this will close the circuit closer F3 which will maintain current through the relay L and energize conductor 9, circuit clos-er V' and conductor l to normally open circuit closer G3 after the button K' is released. If, however, the button K is pressed this, by opening the circuit closer V, will break the circuit through the relay L which CII in turn opens the circuit closer F3 to de-energize relayv L, conductor S and conductor I5 which can not be again energized without pressing the button K or one higher in the series, as will be shown. Briey, the pressing of the button K' energizes the relay L and maintains circuit therethrough when said button is released, While the pressing of the button K de-energizes the relay which remains de-energized after the button K is released. In the same manner in which the conductor I4 connects the circuit closer V with the circuit closer` F3, conductors I5, I6, I'I and I8 respectively connect the circuit closers V', etc. with the circuit closers G3, etc. This provides for a further function, viz: the automatic closing of circuits through all of the relays which are lower in the series than the relay energized by the manipulation of its corresponding button. For instance, if the button K5 is pressed, this by energizing the relay L4 will close the circuit closer E3 which through the conductor I 8 and circuit closer K4 will close circuit through the relay L3, this in turn closing the circuit closer D3 and energizing the relay L2 and so on downward through the series, to relay L through conductor 9. Relay L will close circuit closer F3 and through conductor Ill and circuit closer V will complete the electrical circuit so that when button K5 is released and circuit closer W5 is opened the series of relays will be energized through closer V. The breaking of the series of .energized relays L, L', L2, etc. at the desired point K3 for example is accomplished in the following manner. By depressing button K3, circuit closer V3 will open thus deenergizing conductor I'I which through circuit closer D3 and E3 will cause relays L3 and L4 to be cle-energized. Upon the release of button K3 conductor II is energized but the electric current flow to the relays L3 and L4 is now broken by the open circuit closer D3. The total eiiect produced by the pressing of any one of the buttons is to energize all of the relays lower in the series and de-energizes all of the relays higher in the series, thereby tuning for the particular station to which the button corresponds.

As thus far described, the series of buttons K to K5 control the variable condensers of my attachment but do not control the Variable condensers that are in the radio receiving set or the turning o-n or oi of this Set. I therefore provide in addition to these buttons in the remote control a starting button K7 and a stop button K5. The button K7 controls the primary circuit I9 for the transformer X so that no current is supplied to the radio set or to the control circuits therefor until said button Krl is operated. Upon the closing of this primary circuit after a brief interval current will be supplied from the rectifying tube X2 through conductors 2l and 22 to a normally closed circuit closer V5, the other contact of which is connected with the conductor 8. This supplies current to said conductor 3 for performing the functions previously described. Connected in to the conductor 22 is a relay Y which when energized closes a circuit closer 23 in a shunt circuit 24 connected with the circuit I9 so that the closing of this shunt will maintain current on the primary of the transformer X after the button KFI is released. This continues. until the button K6 is pressed which by opening the circuit closer V5 will de-energize the relay Y permitting the circuit closer 23 to open and breaking the shunt 24, thereby shutting 01T the radio receiving set.

All radio receiving sets are provided with a volume control which is diagrammatically indicated at 25, Fig. 7. To permit ci controlling the Volume at the remote point a second volume control 26 is placed on the panel 3 and may be operated by a turn button 21, Fig. 1. This second volume control 2S is in multiple with the volume control 25 on the instrument and so by turning the latter to maximum Volume the entire control may be obtained at the remote point.

The operator who manipulates one of the buttons in the panel 3 may thereby know the particular station which he is tuning in. This will not be known by other listeners and I have therefore provided a visual indicator which is interconnected with the remote control so as to display the appropriate symbol for each station tuned in. The specific construction of the indicating device may be Varied, but as shown it is the unit 5 associated with the loud speaker G and 7 includes a translucent panel 28 and a series of individually controlled hooded lamps M, M', M2, M3, M4 and M5. 'Ihese lamps are so arranged as to project a beam of light from each on to the panel 28 while intermediate the lamps and the panel are arranged stencils 35 giving the different signals. Thus when any one of the lamps is illuminated the light therefrom interrupted by the stencil 35 will display the symbol in luminous characters upon the panel 28. The lamps M, M',

etc. are controlled respectively by the relays L, L', etc. in the following manner:

F4 and F5 are circuit closers respectively closed and opened when the relay L is cle-energized and opened and closed when the relay is energized. G4, G5 are circuit closers similarly controlled by the relay L', and H4, H5, I4, I5, J4, J5 are in similar relation to the relays L2, L3 and L4. The lamp M is in a circuit including the conductor 29 extending from the transformer X, the conductor 30 leading to the circuit closer F4 and the conductor 3| leading from said circuit closer F4 back to the transformer. Thus whenever the primary circuit is closed through the transformer the 1amp M Win be illuminated which will dismay 4 the signal corresponding to the station tuned in by the Variable condenser in the radio instrument. The lamp M' is in a normally open circuit including the conductor 32 leading from the circuit closer F5 to said lamp, the conductor 33 leading from the lamp to the circuit closer G4 and the conductor 34 leading from the circuit closer G4 back to the same lead from the transformei X as the conductor 29. Inasmuch as the circuit l closer F5 is open when the relay L is de-energized, the lamp M' will not be illuminated but whenever the relay L is energized a circuit will be completed including the conductor 34, circuit closer G4, lamp M', conductor 32, circuit closer F5 and conductor 3l. At the same time the relay L when energized will open th-e circuit closer F4 which will break the circuit through the lamp M. In a similar way the lamp M2 is controlled by the relay L', the lamp M3 by the relay L2, the lamp M4 by the relay L3 and the lamp M5 by the relay L4. In each case when the particular relay is energized it will illuminate the corresponding lamp and break the circuit of any other lamp previously illuminated.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. An attachable organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality of tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs of variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of simultaneously variable individual condensers corresponding in number to the number of distinct tuned circuits of the apparatus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insuiiicient to cover the full wave band of the instrument but the cumuiative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than sucient for that purpose, means introducing a relatively small amount of non-variable capacity, for simultaneously electrically connecting or disconnecting in their respective circuits the corresponding condensers of said gangs individually or in cumulative relation whereby the condensers of each gang individually or in cumulative relation to those of one or more other gangs may be pretuned to a capacity corresponding to a selected Wave length within the band to thereby form a series of pre-tuned capacities corresponding to alternatively selectable wave lengths, and electrical means for operating said connecting and disconnecting means including relays in distinct and non-interfering electrical control circuits.

2. An attachable organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality of tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs of variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of simultaneously variable individual condensers corresponding in number to the number of distinct tuned circuits of the apparatus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insui'icient to cover the full wave band of the instrument but the cumulative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than sufficient for that purpose, means introducing a relatively small amount of non-variable capacity, for simultaneously electrically connecting or disconnecting in their respective circuits the corresponding condensers of said gangs individually or in cumulative relation whereby the con-densers or" each gang individually or in cumulative relation to those of one or more other gangs may be pre-tuned to a capacity corresponding to a selected Wave length within the band to thereby form a series of pretuned capacities corresponding to alternatively selectable wave lengths, and electrical means for operating said connecting and disconnecting means including relays in distinct and non-interfering electrical control circuits, said control circuits eXten-ding to a remote point of control.

3. An attachable organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality of tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs or variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of simultaneously variable individual condensers corresponding in number to the number of distinct tuned circuits of the appara-tus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insuiiicient to cover the full wave band or the instrument but the cumulative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than sufficient for that purpose, means introducing a relatively small amount of non-variable capacity, for simultaneously electrically connecting or disconnecting in their respective circuits the corresponding condensers of said gangs individually or in cumulative relation whereby the condensers of each gang individually or in cumulative relation to those of one or more other gangs may be pre-tuned to a capacity corresponding to a selected wave length Within the band to thereby form a series of pretuned capacities corresponding to alternatively selectable wave lengths, electrical means for operating said connecting means including relays in distinct and non-interfering electrical control circuits, said control circuits extending to a remote point and controlling said relays in various combinations, and a series of manually operable members at said remote point corresponding in number to the pre-tuned capacities and cooperating with said control circuits to operate the relays in their various combinations and to thereby select the desired Wave length.

4. An attache-ble organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality oi tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs, of rotary variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of variable individual condensers correspon-ding in number with the number of distinct tuned circuits in the apparatus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insuflicient to cover the full Wave band of the instrument but the cumulative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than suiiicient for that purpose, an insulator panel on one side of which said gangs are mounted, a series of gang circuit closers mounted on the opposite side of said panel, each gang being provided with means to electrically connect the corresponding condensers in adjacent con-denser gangs in their respective circuits with a relatively small amount of nonvariable capacity, and electricalmeans for operating said gang circuit closers individually and in combination whereby a series of pretuned capacities corresponding to selected Wave lengths within the band may be alternatively selected.

5. An attachable organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality of tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs of rotary variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of variable individual con-densers corresponding in number to the number of distinct tuned circuits in the apparatus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insufcient to cover the full wave band of the instrument but the cumulative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than suiiicient for that purpose, an insulator panel on one side of which said gangs are mounted, a series of gang circuit closers mounted on the opposite side of said panel, each gang being provided with means to electrically connect the corresponding condensers in adjacent condenser gangs in their respective circuits with a relatively small amount of nonvariable capacity, and also having additional circuit closers and circuit breakers, relays for operating said gang circuit closers, and electrical connections including a series of manually operale members at a remote point whereby a series of pretuned capacities corresponding to selected Wave lengths within the ban-d may be alternatively selected by the manipulation of said manually operable means at the remote point.

S. An attachable organized unit control for radio receiving apparatus having a plurality of tunable circuits comprising a series of gangs of variable condensers, each gang having a plurality of simultaneously variable individual condensers corresponding in number to the number of distinct tuned circuits of the apparatus, the variable capacity of each condenser being insufficient to cover the full wave band of the instrument but the cumulative capacity of the corresponding condensers of the gangs being more than suiiicient for that purpose, means introducing a relatively small amount of non-variable capacity, and means for simultaneously electrically connecting or disconnecting in their respective Circuits the corresponding condensers of said gangs individually or in cumulative relation whereby the condensers of each gang individually or in cumulative relation to those of one or more other gangs may be pretuned to a capacity corresponding to a selected Wave length Within the band to thereby form a series of pre-tuned capacities corresponding to alternatively selectable wave lengths, means controlled from a remote point for actuating sai-d electrical connecting and disconnecting means, an indicator including the conventional visual indications of the broadcast stations, operating under the respective Wave lengths of said series, and means actuated by the controlling means at said remote point for simultaneously operating said indicator to display the corresponding Visual indication.

HALS'I'EAD W. WEST. 

